Boxing Has Evolved, Fighters Are Better Today

[radioraheem]

Clearly the thread starter is joking, but I tend to agree with you on this, although it seems to be a rather unpopular viewpoint. I can see no real reason to say that the sport has either declined or improved on the whole, and no real way of making an accurate comparison.

My belief - the top guys of each era would likely be fairly competitive with one another and likely be seen as standouts in any era.

We tend to forget the time periods we're talking about here (we compare the top guys in one division this year with the top in many over a period of decades sometimes), and also as you point out, the magnifying effect of nostalgia (both our own and those who brought us to the sport).

As far as I can se there's no good reason to say that the overall standard of the sport has fallen in the last few decades, though it has become more international - relatively having lost popularity in the US whilst simultaneously growing more popular worldwide.

I think it's safe to say that it's declined based on math mostly. The problem with boxing today is that it's much less popular in American culture than it was in the past. So by default, the quality and competition will suffer. The more participants boxing has, the higher the likelihood that quality boxers will be produced out of that. The lower the participation, the lower the chance. And that's what we're seeing now.

This is not always true though, but a lot of times it is, and I think it's the case with boxing.